Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Bunde.
Hi Kelly, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I kind of came into tattooing a bit later in life than most who tattoo. I was working as a graphic designer for about 10 years and when the economy went bad, my employer let me go. So I spent the next few months or so just being a stay at home mom, doing some freelance work when my friend, Megan Hoogland called me and basically changed the rest of my life. Megan previously owned a tattoo shop in Mankato and had sold her shop and decided to open a private studio and asked if I wanted to be her apprentice. Megan and I have known each other for like 20 years and actually, I had previously apprenticed with her back in the late 90s. I was also going to school, working 30-plus hours a week and trying to fit in an apprenticeship. Needless to say, I was very busy and something had to change. I decided at that point to quit my apprenticeship and focus on school…something I regretted for many years. So when Megan asked me to come back as her apprentice, I jumped right in.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, apprenticeships are not easy. It’s kind of like boot camp for tattooing. You work really hard, do as you’re told and don’t talk back. Whenever I was asked to do a task, I would remind myself that there is a reason for this, it may not make sense at the moment, but there is a lesson to be learned.
It’s a lot of hours and not when you’re just at the shop working, but also at home. You have drawings, paintings and emails to answer, along with having a family. It’s a balancing act. My family is my greatest supporter. I would not be where I am today without their support, especially my husband. With me working nights and weekends, he really had taken on a lot more especially with 2 kids.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’ve been tattooing for around 12 years now and when I first started, I was really drawn to bold traditional tattoos…that’s where I thought my style was headed. I had a request to do a henna-styled hummingbird. I drew it up, tattooed it and showed the finished tattoo to Megan and she said, that’s your style. She was right. I love doing mandala and henna-inspired artwork along with florals. I love using different line weights to show dimension and texture…linework is my jam. I get lost in it.
Every mandala that I design is custom for my clients. I pull inspiration from art nouveau and art deco styles along with more traditional mandala elements…kind of mix them all together. Lately, I’ve been adding more heavy blackwork in the designs along with dotwork…LOVE doing dotwork! Call me crazy, I know that I am but again there’s something about I, I just zone out and get lost in it and it’s beautiful.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kellybundetattoo.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/kellybunde
